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Real Salt Lake Concludes Three-Game Week at Home Saturday v Austin FC

May 31, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake (8-2-6 / 30 points / 1st West) returns home this weekend to host Austin FC (6-5-5 / 23 points / 5th West) at America First Field Saturday night, looking to extend its first-place lead atop the MLS Western Conference and stretch its overall unbeaten run to 13 games, as Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni's team seeks to improve upon its 5-1-1 / 16-point home record thus far in 2024. Kickoff Saturday in Sandy is at 7:30p MT, available on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce (ENG) and John Laguna and Martin Zuniga (SPN) on the call.

First-place RSL continued its best start in Club history - 30 points from 16 matches - with the latest equalizer in the Club's 20-year annals Wednesday night in Seattle, as Colombian winger Andrés Gómez settled a bouncing ball in the box and slammed home his eighth goal of the year in the 90+9 minute to see RSL rescue points late for a third consecutive match. On the heels of both an 0-2 comeback on May 18 at home and an 0-3 comeback at Dallas on May 25, Wednesday's dramatic draw in Seattle improved RSL to 3-1-5 / 14 points away from home this season with eight consecutive road results, dropping only the Feb. 21 opener at Miami.

Saturday's home match against Austin FC is just the fourth of four America First Field matches for RSL from mid-April to mid-June, the Claret-and-Cobalt playing eight of 12 away from home during this span, including this week's trips to Dallas and Seattle. Following Saturday's Austin tilt, RSL will enjoy a much-needed June 8 international bye week prior to again traveling to Montreal and Kansas City on June 15/19 to wrap up the circuitous gauntlet, prior to a June 22 home match against LA Galaxy, currently second place in the West.

Last time out at home, RSL improved to 5-1-1 on Utah soil, with another amazing comeback on May 18 in a 5-3 win, the second of three Rocky Mountain Cup tilts this year against Colorado. For just the fourth time in the Club's 630-game history, RSL rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to earn the full three points, riding 2-goal / 1-assist performances from both Captain Chicho Arango and winger Andrés Gómez to defeat the Rapids 5-3 before a standing-room only crowd of 20,728. Another capacity crowd is expected Saturday, with tickets available at www.RSL.com/tickets.

Real Salt Lake v Austin FC - MLS Matchday 18

America First Field - Sandy, Utah

Saturday, June 1, 2024 - 7:30p MT

2023 Records: Real Salt Lake (14-12-8, 50 pts, 5th West MLS); Austin FC (10-15-9, 39 pts, 12th West MLS)

RSL - led by Captain Chicho Arango and his 13 goals / 8 assists in 16 MLS games thus far, tied with D.C. United's Christian Benteke in the MLS Golden Boot race - returns home with an active 12-game unbeaten run (seven wins, five draws) dating back to March 9 at home, a stretch that has seen what had been one of Major League Soccer's staunchest defenses (six goals allowed in the first nine games during this streak, with five clean sheets) capture five points from its last three games despite conceding another seven goals. During the current MLS run, RSL has outscored opponents 26-13, scoring first in six of the 12 matches and hammering home five game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes of matches as well as two extremely late stoppage-time equalizers.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING

The active 12-game MLS unbeaten run matches RSL's second-longest single-season MLS streak (2014, 12 games, two shy of the 14-game streak set in 2010) and the Club's third-longest overall in RSL's 20-season history, exceeding last year's 11-game streak across three competitions. RSL also boasts a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014, and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten streak from July 2010 to April 2011 (reg. season only). For the first time ever, RSL now owns back-to-back seasons with unbeaten runs of nine games or longer. With results vs. Austin this week and at Montreal / Kansas City on June 15 / 19, RSL would establish a new single-season unbeaten streak record.

CAPTAIN CHICHO REMAINS IN GOLDEN BOOT LEAD

Wednesday's stunning comeback draw in Seattle was just the fifth MLS contest this season that RSL Captain Chicho Arango failed to find the scoresheet, with the Dallas / Seattle back-to-backs the first time the Colombian sniper has not scored or assisted in consecutive matches. When he does score or assist - as he has in 11 of 16 MLS matches this year - RSL owns seven wins and three draws (May 11 brace at LA Galaxy wasted, with the Claret-and-Cobalt failing to score at Miami Feb. 24 and April 13 v. Columbus) against just one loss, with Chicho's assist on an Emeka Eneli goal back on March 9 coming in the home defeat to Colorado.

Chicho provided a three-goal explosion in a 21-minute span in the Utah side's come-from-behind 3-1 home win over St. Louis on March 30, the Club's first hat trick since September 17, 2018 (Damir Kreilach). Chicho's three-goal performance is just the seventh in RSL's now 628-game MLS history, the Colombian joining Alvaro Saborio (three hats - two in 2012, one in 2013), along with Robbie Findley (2009), Javier Morales (2014) and Kreilach. Former Captain, head coach and current Club director Jason Kreis also had a hat trick, albeit in the 2005 U.S. Open Cup.

Arango now has two hat tricks in his MLS career - his first was for LAFC in late 2021 against Dallas - and boasts 112 goals as a professional, including 56 goals in 91 games across all competitions since arriving in MLS for LAFC and RSL. Since appearing on the Wasatch Front last July, Chicho boasts 21 goals and 10 assists in 34 MLS reg. season appearances for the Claret-and-Cobalt, with those numbers increasing to 23 goals and 12 assists in 39 RSL games across all competitions (incl. Leagues Cup, Open Cup, Playoffs).

CHICHO CHASING MLS HISTORY

With a goal against Austin on Saturday, RSL striker Chicho Arango would become just the eighth player in MLS history to reach 50 career MLS regular-season goals in 79 games or fewer:

All-time MLS Players w/ 50 career MLS regular-season goals in 79 or fewer games:

Player, Goal #, Game #, Date

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 50, 54, 9/25/2019

Josef Martinez, 50, 54, 10/28/2018

Carlos Vela, 50, 61, 3/8/2020

Raul Diaz Arce, 51, 67, 7/4/1998

Carlos Ruiz, 50, 69, 8/21/2004

Roy Lassiter, 52, 75, 7/18/1998

Taylor Twellman, 50, 77, 4/27/2005

Chicho Arango, 49, 78, ???

With a goal against Austin, Chicho would tie Seattle's Raul Ruidiaz in becoming the second-fastest active player to reach the milestone behind only Josef Martinez (54 games), possibly becoming just the fourth active player to reach the mark in fewer than 100 games:

Active players to reach the career 50-goal milestone in fewer than 100 career games:

Player, Goal #, Game #, Date

Josef Martinez, 50, 54, 10/28/2018

Raul Ruidiaz, 50, 79, 11/01/2021

Hany Mukhtar, 51, 93, 05/20/2023

Chicho Arango, 49, 78, ???

Chicho scored 30 of his 49 career MLS reg. season goals during the 2021 and 2022 seasons in 51 games with LAFC (0.59 goals per game, and a rate of 0.72 goals per 90), and has scored 19 in 27 games (0.70 per game, 0.79 per 90) across the last 10 months with RSL, spanning the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Chicho needs 12 more Claret-and-Cobalt goals in the remaining 18 games of the current MLS campaign to surpass his LAFC output on a volume basis, with his per-game numbers significantly better at RSL.

IRON MAN NO MORE

Two RSL players - MF Emeka Eneli (1420) and FW Chicho Arango (1353) - have played nearly every minute of the Club's 16-game MLS season so far in 2024, with second-year man Eneli substituted out Saturday in the 70th minute at Dallas for the only time this season. DF Andrew Brody (1222) did not start on three occasions this season, but has appeared in every match.

Three players have appeared in 15 league games, missing just one game this season - Anderson Julio, Braian Ojeda and Andrés Gómez - while Justen Glad, Matt Crooks, Diego Luna and Fidel Barajas have each appeared in 14 of 16 MLS contests thus far, with a heavily-congested month concluding Saturday against Austin. Due to caution accumulation, Crooks will be forced to miss Saturday's home match, as he received his fifth yellow card of 2024 late in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Seattle.

TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM LEAGUES CUP OPENER: On August 1, RSL kicks off its participation in the 2024 Leagues Cup, the second year of the 47-team, 78-game tournament, with three CONCACAF Champions Cup berths on the line. RSL is grouped with a road tilt away at Houston Dynamo (MLS) on August 5, with the home opener on August 1 against Atlas CF (MEX) match at America First Field in its West 2 group, with single-elimination knockout games to follow leading up to an August 25 title match.

Based on last year's fifth-seeded West finish (14W-12L-8T, 50 points, 48 GF / 50 GA), RSL will be grouped with both Houston and Liga MX side Atlas F.C. in Leagues Cup 2024 this July. RSL last faced Atlas in the 2022 Leagues Cup "Showcase" match in Utah, dropping a 1-2 decision despite former DF Aaron Herrera's wondergoal from 65 yards away over the retreating goalkeeper.

Due to the new for 2024 Leagues Cup seeding formula, RSL will once again travel to Houston for a group stage LC match in addition to its two MLS reg. season games against the Dynamo, with RSL now winless in its last six games against Houston - all last year - across all competitions. Prior to the active six-game streak without a win against the South Texas side, RSL had seen great success against the Dynamo, which defeated RSL for the first time in 11 games dating back to 2017 in last year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.

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